by Marcia Sarnowski
Here’s a hypothetical scenario: a public library maintains and circulates current movies and graphic novels. Included on the labels created by the library for some of the materials are the words “rated R” (in the case of movies) or “contains mild violence” (in the case of the graphic novels). Is there anything wrong with this picture? According to the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, the answer is “yes.”
Such labels may be termed “prejudicial labels” because their purpose is to restrict or discourage access to materials, and they are a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution, and the ALA Library Bill of Rights.
“So,” you may say, “the library is only taking the rating notice that is on the movie package (in very small print) and reproducing it on the library label to make it easier for everyone to see. And while we are at it, we should add that rating notation to the bibliographic record in the public access catalog.” No, we shouldn’t, says the ALA, in Questions and Answers on Labeling and Rating Systems. “These rating systems are devised by private groups using subjective and changing criteria to advise people of suitability or content of materials…Including such ratings in the bibliographic record, library records, and other library-authored finding aids would predispose people’s attitudes toward the materials and thus violate the Library Bill of Rights…None of these organizations [motion picture associations, software rating boards, parent advisory councils] are government agencies and as such their rating systems cannot be mandated or enforced by any government or agency of government, including a publicly funded library.”
Some may argue that this type of labeling is a service to parents as it helps them protect their children from visual or printed content they may find objectionable. And yet, one person’s “objectionable” is a very subjective decision – and we are each entitled to decide for ourselves what is acceptable, or objectionable. Only a court has the authority to decide, for others, what is obscene or harmful to minors.
It is of course every parent’s right to decide which library materials their children may have. As the ALA Free Access to Libraries for Minors statement notes: “Parents – and only parents – have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children – and only their children – to library resources. Parents or legal guardians who do not want their children to have access to certain library services, materials, or facilities, should so advise their children. Librarians and governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents…[they] have a public and professional obligation to provide equal access to all library resources for all library users.”
It can be challenging to maintain an environment of free inquiry and access to information – but it’s one of the library’s most important roles.
Here are a few resources:
Questions and Answers on Labeling and Rating Systems http://connect.ala.org/node/101941
Labeling and Rating Systems: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/labelingrating.cfm
A Few Words About Public Libraries and MPAA ratings, By Lance M. Werner http://www.michigan.gov/documents/hal/lm_trustees_MPAARatings_223199_7.pdf
Movie Ratings Are Private, Not Public Policy, by Deborah Caldwell-Stone http://www.ila.org/advocacy/pdf/ILA_Movie_Ratings.pdf
Access for Children and Young Adults to Nonprint Materials: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights http://tinyurl.com/6c7pg
Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights http://tinyurl.com/6ft4c